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Earnings came in at 68 cents per share, up 15.3% from the first quarter of 2012, on a 4.2% increase in operating revenue to $28.4 billion. The Street’s consensus call was for 66 cents per share on $29.5 billion in revenue.

Operating income was up 19.8% to $6.2 billion, thanks in large part to margin improvements. Those improvements were most noticeable in wireless, where Verizon booked $19.5 billion in revenue, up 6.8% from a year prior, and record margins. The company reported wireless operating income margin of 32.9% and EBITDA margin on service revenues of 50.4%.

Average revenue per wireless account was up 6.9% from a year ago, as the company reaps the benefit of selling more data plans. Smartphone penetration increased to 61% of its post-paid customer base, from 58% at the end of 2012. Churn increased slightly to just over 1%.

Verizon touted the launch of devices like Samsung’s latest Galaxy Note tablet and BlackBerry’s new Z10 in the quarter.

On the wireline side, Verizon said customer revenues grew 4.3% year-over-year to $3.6 billion with average revenue per user up 9.5%. FiOS revenue jumped 15.1% to $2.6 billion.

Shares of Verizon, already up nearly 15% in 2013, gained 1.9% to $50.50 in pre-market trading. Rival AT&TAT&T, due to report first-quarter earnings April 23, was up 0.5% at $37.98.

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